Tag Archives: groom-to-be

“Love is Love is Love is Love is…”

Every year, for more years than I can count (or remember…), I venture out to Las Vegas for an annual photography conference called WPPI – Wedding and Portrait Photographers International. It draws 10,000+ photographers, filmmakers and photography-related businesses and vendors from all over the globe. It’s overwhelming. It’s fun. It’s educational. It’s intense. It’s…Vegas! (and, I confess…I do love Vegas. Craps, anyone?!)

Set against the backdrop of a city with no sense of night and day, it tends to be a week-long bombardment of all things photography, all day, all night…all the time. It’s a time for me to geek out without alienating my family and friends. It’s a time to work on my craft and my business, learn something new, see things from different perspectives, get out of my own head.

But, just as importantly for me, it’s a time to connect in real life with photographers and vendors, both new and old, in a way that we cannot when we work together. Or in a way we cannot because we are scattered around the world and busy in our own lives. It’s these human connections that inspire me, push me…allow me to have those geeky conversations about light and gear and techniques and business over a cocktail in the middle of the night. To spend the better part of an hour playing with reflections, twinkling Vegas lights and silhouettes to find that perfect, fun portrait (again, without alienating family and friends! Check out the result…).

“It’s a (my) family affair”

Full disclosure: I know the groom-to-be here very well. In fact, I’ve known him his whole life…he’s my youngest brother. And he’s getting married!!! I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry, but I’m tearing up just typing those words. I am so full of love and happiness and excitement for Jason and his fiancée Shelley that I could just BUST!

We were lucky enough to sneak in a mini engagement session a few weeks ago, on a blustery, miserable, rainy Sunday afternoon – perfect! An engagement session was something I really wanted to do with them, have a little fun, make some photos of them that, hopefully, they will enjoy for years to come (as I’m writing this, they haven’t seen the images yet, so I’m crossing my fingers that they find something in here they like…!). It’s a gift that, as a photographer, I never, ever get tired of giving. And it’s even more special when it’s for family.